Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Purchased by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 97.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,487 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,722 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the first quarter worth $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 114.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $494.03 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $473.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $452.29. The company has a market capitalization of $89.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.29. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $358.49 and a 1 year high of $495.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MCO. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James lowered Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $500.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody’s Analytics and Moody’s Investors Services. The Moody’s Analytics segment develops a range of products and services that support the risk management activities of institutional participants in financial markets.